Blue balloon
Xi Ai turned around and picked out a green pen. When she turned back, she kept tilting her head to avoid where Chu Yiqi might bump his head. She then wrote and drew, and finally slapped the pen down with great pride. She looked at Chu Yiqi and said, "Tell me quickly, I drew really well."
Chu Yiqi was still working on his art exhibition when he glanced at it briefly, then quickly reconnected the last oxygen tube and finished the project.
It can only be said that the two people's thinking is synchronized, and two similar structures appear at the same time.
— Both Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi used benzene rings as the heads of the little people. Xi Ai paired it with "proudly crawling", while Chu Yiqi's side was to "cosplay Louis XVI".
The two were silent for a while, then suddenly covered their mouths and started laughing.
Xi Ai covered her mouth with one hand and reached for her pen with the other, completely absorbed in her self-important drawing skills. After stacking three benzene rings, she asked Chu Yiqi, "Guess what it is."
"Stunned, dumbfounded." Chu Yiqi pointed and started laughing, "Hmm, no, add a horizontal line, this circle is an eye, and the frame is glasses."
"Is that frame below a beard?"
"I think it's okay."
After laughing for a while, Chu Yiqi and Xi Ai finally stopped laughing, looked up at each other, completely unaware of how dreamlike and hazy the atmosphere was.
"Luckily, we didn't know each other in high school."
The two said these words almost half a second apart. Chu Yiqi immediately fell silent, then picked up a red pen and changed to a handwriting style that she hadn't written much of but was still quite pretty.
It's like a forged comment from a homeroom teacher: "You two are really speaking in a very Centralist way."
Xi Ai blinked, paused for a few seconds, and then burst into laughter the moment she realized what was happening.
"Do you music students do this because you like singing from sheet music and listening to music? You do it every now and then."
"Stop! We must stop turning music into entertainment." Chu Yiqi's smile vanished instantly as he stared at Xi Ai.
Shi Yunshan and the other three had finished their makeup and dressing when they came over and saw the two of them making a ruckus again, as if they were about to blow out a cloud of pink bubbles to drown themselves.
The two people who were about to be submerged were oblivious to the fact that they were still drawing doodles on each other's hands.
When Xi Ai smiled and pretended to complain, saying "It's a little ugly," Shi Yunshan finally couldn't hold back and said, "Xi Ai, how could you say that about our creation? You're really going too far."
"Yeah, you're terrible!" Yu Nianxi always leads the pack when it comes to roasting Xi Ai.
Xi Ai said, "Well, that's a cute little green vine, it's really, really nice."
Chu Yiqi snorted and said to her, "Hypocritical words."
"But what about you? You won't even look at me. Actions speak louder than words, don't you?"
Chu Yiqi's eyes flickered. He glanced at the dark blue butterfly and flowers in his hand, then at Xi Ai, and said, "Wow! That's wonderful! Is it a string of blue balloons?"
"..."
Xi Ai glared at her, then suddenly thought of a solution, so she said, "Actually, there were two birds."
"..." Chu Yiqi was probably rarely attacked by himself, so he didn't say anything more.
As soon as Yu Nianxi arrived at the door, she suddenly heard "fake fabric shop" and then Chu Yiqi's rejection of her application: "Can the person in charge please be nicer to their own fans?"
After thinking for a moment, Yu Nianxi pretended not to hear, took a hot and sour noodle takeout box, pushed open the half-closed door, and said, "You guys are making such a loud and chaotic noise."
"Hopefully! She questions your pronunciation!"
"Xixi, say it again."
"Well, I think I heard sounds from another room."
Bringing back to the initial topic between Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi, without outside help and unsure of Chu Yiqi's side, Yu Nianxi certainly wouldn't rashly start an argument with Xi Ai.
A very wise person.
"So what are we going to watch today?" Chu Yiqi tacitly skipped over the conversation he had just had with Xi Ai.
Half an hour earlier, Yu Nianxi had asked in the group chat if anyone wanted to watch a movie with her, but Shi Yunshan and Nie Chuiying refused without reason, Meng Yike was busy with her career—writing songs, and Su Luojian was busy applying face masks and going to bed early.
In the end, only Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi remained. For some unknown reason, they gave up being alone and chose to have Yu Nianxi come over to watch a movie with Yiqi.
It's like...
It's as if this way they can better forget the two years that have passed, and then they can justifiably do things that are not in line with what two people should do under the rational guidance of being alone.
Xi Ai raised her eyes, stuffed another pillow into Chu Yiqi's hand, and said, "She'll definitely choose to watch a horror movie."
"I really don't understand you people who use horror movies as hypnotic stories." Chu Yiqi remembered that every time everyone rested and played in the living room, Yu Nianxi would start watching a horror movie by herself at the end, and then quietly fall asleep in the most comfortable corner of the sofa.
This time, Yu Nianxi thoughtfully held up her phone: "We can switch to another one to watch. I don't intend to fall asleep here."
It feels like if I sleep here, I'll find myself squeezed into a corner tomorrow while you guys are unconsciously snuggling together in bed.
Yu Nianxi felt that she was a person who was particularly good at describing things.
Xi Ai once again suggested narrowing down the options. She looked at Chu Yiqi and said very seriously, "But promise me, can you refuse to watch the documentary today?"
Chu Yiqi is someone who is actually very fun to be with friends, but can also spend an entire day reading alone or watching a documentary intently from beginning to end.
Xi Ai had also watched some astronomy documentaries with Chu Yiqi. In fact, Xi Ai was quite interested, but in the end, she fell asleep while hugging Chu Yiqi's arm and rubbing against his neck, thinking that she had listened attentively.
—Until the moment before Chu Yiqi was about to remove his arm and Xi Ai was woken up, Xi Ai was still dreaming of a jumbled mess of inexplicable astronomical terms.
As Yu Nianxi's hot and sour noodles filled the air, Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi sat side by side in the same posture, each using only hair clips to hold back their hair on the sides.
Xi Ai opened a box of coffee-flavored cream puffs and handed it to Chu Yiqi.
"Try it!"
"I've already tried it, and it's actually quite delicious."
Chu Yiqi looked at Xi Ai in the dim light and suddenly felt that this scene was very similar to some ambiguous and somewhat disordered past events.
That day was a rare day off. Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi watched "The Universe" together. Xi Ai watched half of it and then glanced at the work group chat.
Chu Yiqi looked at her for a while, then tilted her head to look at Xi Ai: "Xi Ai—"
"What's wrong?" Xi Ai replied immediately, her voice exceptionally sweet.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to call you."
Xi Ai didn't speak, but looked at Chu Yiqi and felt that something was wrong.
Chu Yiqi leaned over, sat down next to Xi Ai, turned to the side, and kissed Xi Ai.
Xi Ai accidentally sent out the reply she was only halfway through editing. She quickly tried to fix it, burying her head in Chu Yiqi's neck to express her dissatisfaction.
Chu Yiqi kissed him again.
It's like they're pushing their luck.
In short, she was a femme fatale.
Xi Ai quickly replied with the second half of her sentence, then looked at Chu Yiqi with a suspicious expression: "What's wrong, Teacher Chu?"
Chu Yiqi: "..."
Chu Yiqi was furious. He straddled Xi Ai's lap and grabbed the little butterfly pillow to cover Xi Ai's face.
Xi Ai finally stopped acting, smiling non-aggressively as she put her phone aside.
Chu Yiqi was about to leave after finishing her business when Xi Ai quickly grabbed her hand. Chu Yiqi, who hadn't even stood up yet, was pulled towards Xi Ai and fell against her. Xi Ai then grabbed Chu Yiqi by the back of the neck.
Fortunately, Xi Ai usually liked to lay out a whole circle of various cushions around where the two of them sat, so it didn't hurt at all when she fell down. So Chu Yiqi hugged Xi Ai's waist and kissed the corner of Xi Ai's lips again and again.
Xi Ai raised her head slightly, one hand gripping Chu Yiqi's waist, the other hand grasping Chu Yiqi's wrist, her thumb pressing on an old scar.
A butterfly chases after a flower, getting closer and closer.
Then Chu Yiqi heard Xi Ai seem to have picked up something, and she immediately pretended to run away.
But the butterfly's wings had already been pinched.
Chu Yiqi hadn't really intended to leave, so he calmly took Xi Ai's hand in return, leaned closer, and pulled open Xi Ai's already loosely worn plaid shirt.
A white tank top and a plaid shirt—Xi Ai's outfit today is perfect for showing off her collarbone.
Chu Yiqi lowered her eyes, and thinking this, she lowered her head and took a bite.
It was like a lukewarm retaliation.
"Teacher Chu, it hurts a little." Xi Ai always spoke with a smile, even in this situation.
Chu Yiqi bit Xi Ai's collarbone again, right next to the little butterfly tattoo, trying to suppress some of her disordered breathing.
Should I turn off screen mirroring?
Chu Yiqi gripped Xi Ai's shirt, which had slipped down to her wrist, his voice trembling slightly: "...No."
...
When Xi Ai sat down next to him, Chu Yiqi snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and said, "When have I ever not suggested that we watch some new movies? When have I never asked you what documentaries you've been watching lately?"
Xi Ai remained silent, feeling extremely guilty.
So Yu Nianxi waved her hand and said, "Let's watch a short horror movie."
Yu Nianxi sat down next to the two people and set up a small table to eat her late-night snack.
"Sooner or later, Sister Luo will catch you and control your diet." Xi Ai looked to her left again, and when she saw Chu Yiqi's profile, she inevitably saw Yu Nianxi as well.
"It's okay, actually, I won't gain weight from eating." Yu Nianxi continued eating. "But you, if you stay up all night again, you'll gain weight. It's more serious for you than for me."
"Actually, it's only a little past nine o'clock now."
After Xi Ai finished speaking, Chu Yiqi nudged her arm, making her turn around to look at the projected screen.
Xi Ai subconsciously listened to Chu Yiqi's words, but as soon as she turned around, she saw the "beautiful female ghost" that appeared out of nowhere.
A typical Chinese horror story, featuring a typical image of a vengeful spirit.
Without hesitation, Xi Ai leaned back and hurriedly grabbed Chu Yiqi's wrist in the darkness.
The slightly cool fingertips brushed against the old and new scars on the inside of Chu Yiqi's wrist once again. Chu Yiqi curled her fingertips slightly, and her mind went blank for a brief moment.
Finally, Chu Yiqi glanced sideways at Xi Ai's expression.
After a moment of helplessness, Xi Ai still had to suppress her lingering fear and continue watching, but she held tightly to the person next to her, as if she were completely unaware.
It inexplicably evokes the image of a dimly lit stairwell, but upon closer inspection, the specific details become somewhat blurry.
It's unclear who has been waiting patiently, or who the real prey will bite.
They are inexplicable and inseparable, intertwined and complex, and one can never escape their grasp.
No one suggested letting go, so it wasn't until the movie ended that Xi Ai heard Chu Yiqi ask her, "Are you still able to sleep?"
Xi Ai remained silent for a moment, then released her hand, but did not answer. She asked Chu Yiqi, "Does it hurt?"
The meaning was unclear, and no one could tell whether Xi Ai was referring to a section of her wrist that she had been holding for a long time, or to the scar on her wrist.
But Chu Yiqi shook her head, saying, "It's okay."
"Can I leave the light on at night? I have a feeling something's up." After Yu Nianxi left, Xi Ai wrapped herself in a thin blanket, her voice a little muffled.
Chu Yiqi didn't say it, but she had actually gotten used to sleeping with a little light on, otherwise she always had a bad night's sleep.
So she nodded and left the nightlight on.
"I'm going upstairs." Chu Yiqi got up, opened a carton of milk, and walked towards the stairs while biting the straw.
Xi Ai looked at Chu Yiqi, remained silent for a while, and then, following their unspoken habit—a habit that had been going on for a very long time—said her last words before going to sleep.
"good evening."
"have a good rest."
A deliberate touch hidden in the shadow of a horror movie—no one dares to confirm whether it's an unspoken understanding or genuine ignorance.
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